The book has a fun start and I really enjoyed the first half but around then it runs out of steam. By then both characters know that they are in love with each other, at least Leo has loved her forever, so where do we go from here? Fill up the pages with blank: put in some random skiing trip, a sex scene or two, add a kidnapping, and the book becomes such a cliche. I started skipping pages but around the kidnapping I gave up on the book.

I think the story would have worked and all the shortcomings can be forgiven if the suspense went on a bit longer, Leo and Ellies's characters more developed, and the build-up of their feelings was gradually introduced until the big end when the all hidden feelings are revealed. The emotional and sexual build-up usually works wonders because by the end the readers are just dying for this love story to work out. However, here the build-up ends before it evens starts somewhere around the middle.

Thus to sum up, the story is a complete cliche:

- a heir and a future billionaire CEO falls in love with the housekeeper's daughter when she is 16 and even 7 years later he is madly in love with her. How often does this happen in a real life?

- The personal chauffeur, the housekeeper and their families are treated as the family of the estate and are invited to the family Christmas. The housekeeper is treated as a close friend by the lady of the manor.

- The education and upkeep of the housekeeper's daughter is paid fully at the most prestigious university for architecture. Keep dreaming.

- Once Ellie graduates and gets her first job, she starts a relationship with the company's CEO. How inappropriate is that? Can you really imagine a junior staff sleeping with CEO at any company?

- Once Ellie realizes that her feelings to the architect CEO are not that deep, she jumps into the hands of another CEO (aka Leo) who has been in love with her since she was 16. I guess that no other women could have matched her 16 year old's tanned long legs, blond hair and height. As Leo barely knows her character, his feelings should be extremely shallow and so many blond tall women with long legs are available to him. His devoted love for Ellie seems forced as much as unreal.

- Leo, the second CEO, has such a super sensitive personality, all the kindness and empathy, and all the time on his hands - there is no way he would succeed in a CEO role of a billionaire company.

- Ellie, a recent graduate with only 2 years of work experience is hired as a main architect to build the headquarters of a billionaire company. Of course this billionaire company belongs to Leo. Why do we have to send these false messages to young people to think that one can rise quickly and up without much effort? Two years of career is barely learning the ropes.

- Heroine is someone who is natural genius in her field and the most beautiful woman with long legs. So the rest of us with average length legs, above average looks and long hard worked careers there is really no hope in life.

- Add a private jet here and holidays or dinners at fine restaurants, of course, all free to the heroine. Oh I just love the life of people in fiction. As if rich people in a real life subsidize everyone around them.

Why cannot we have books about relationships and love stories that happen in real life? At least once, please no private jets and no billionaire CEO. Billionaire CEOs do not marry their secretaries or housekeeper's daughters and you wouldn't want to date them anyway because most of them are sociopaths and definitely not kind, empathic people. A kind person would never succeed as a CEO of a billionaire company.

I know that some unhappily married women need fantasy in order to escape their lives, but what happen to the romance and stories that make sense. I know it might not be fair to Sophie Penhaligon because my rant is against the whole genre not just her book.

Thanks NetGalley for a free copy in exchange of the honest review.

Playing the long game was ok. I almost did not finish early on because it didn't capture my interest.

I ended up finishing though because I saw it was short. There were a few twists and turns though this book just wasn't really for me after all. It was just a two star rating for me.

This book was a nice and easy read. The love interest was predictable in the best way possible. I loved the childhood crush gone wrong and how she ended up falling for the older brother. Watching as the pair went from enemies, to friends to lovers was amazing and is one of my favourite tropes to read about. Seeing how much he cared about her and the love confession was everything and more I need in a romance novel. I would read this book again for a comfort read and i believe the way they depicted Felix as the golden child turned rotten egg was amazing. Ellie and Leo deserve the entire world and seeing how their relationship looked in the epilogue filled my heart with so much joy and I felt like the story was told from start to finish and that Ellie was finally given not only her prince in shining armour but also the family and friends she had longed for her entire life.

Very mills and boon in that you can predict almost exactly what will happen- right down to the mild peril towards the end. Nevertheless it’s a feel good story and it was enjoyable to see Ellie finally fall in love. I found this really easy and leisurely to read- the perfect book for switching off and some harmless escapism into the world of the super rich. Loved the descriptions of the Ashton Estate too.

This one is my favourite Sophie Penhaligon so far! I love the main characters, Ellie and Leo, and the story was immediately engaging and read smoothly. The conflict between Leo and Felix added interest to the narrative, as did the development of Ellie and Leo's relationship and her changing view of the other Cavendish family members from the beginning of the book to its end. The final chapter and the epilogue brought a satisfying HEA to Ellie and Leo's love story.

This is a review for Net Galley.

In this story we follow Ellie whose mother worked as a housekeeper for the Cavendish family to raise Ellie by herself. Ellie dreamed of working her way up in the world as an architect so that Felix, the younger brother, would marry her and get rid of his older brother whom she thought of as Starchy pants. One day Felix shocked her by asking her out on a date. From then on they spent the summer together until one day Felix left without saying good-bye. She was told by the Cavendish family they would pay for her schooling and place to live. She was upset about it at the beginning but in the end had no idea it would change her life for the better.

A very heart warming cute story. I highly recommend. I also liked towards the ending when a certain event happened that the author did not go all out in details. I can't say too much because do not want spoilers. I really don't have anything that I didn't like about the book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun lighthearted read. It was very enjoyable and I loved Ellie’s character development throughout the book.Its as if the reader see’s her grow up since the book starts of when she is 16 and ends in her twenties.I loved the dynamic between Ellie and the Freestones it just goes to show that you don’t have to be of the same blood to be family.Also her and Leo’s relationship is super cute and a perfect example of non-toxic relationships.

4 *stars*

I wanted some cute romance book between my reads and this was the book!

My thoughts:
I really liked the main character Ellie especially how she realized what she has been seeking for years. I was happy how she stood up for herself and at the same time was really emotional and trusted the one person she really needed to. I really wanted more erotica between the characters. The book teases the reader and I hoped there would be a little bit more.

Brief synopsis:
Story about enemies to lovers. Ellie was the daughter of the maid for the Cavendish family. She lived on the housekeeper cottage with other staff member and they were like a family to each other. Ellie was madly in love with one of the Cavendish boys and she dreamed about the day she won't be working for someone else like her mother, but will be like the Cavendish family. She was madly in love but it is going to come true?

Thank you for the book!
#PlayingtheLongGame #NetGalley

I just did not dig this book. It felt a little like something I would read off of Wattpad a few years ago. The plot seemed too rushed yet strangely stunted. I think the concept has potential, but the writing and the way the story progressed was where the issues lied.

This book was so entertaining. It’s cute, it’s romantic and it was a tad bit dramatic and cheesy at times but in a good way. Leo easily was my favorite character. I was not a big fan of Ellie in the beginning felt like she was naive and kind of ungrateful. Loved how the author described the vibe of the estate during the winter times.

Ellie and her mother live in the staff cottage provided by the Cavendish family. Since Ellie was little, she has had a fantasy of marrying the younger, somewhat wild brother, Felix. He occupies Ellie’s fantasy life. The older brother, Leo, is groomed to take over the family business and Ellie sees him as stiff, cold hearted, and all business like his dad. Felix knows how he affects Ellie and asks her to go to Paris with him after she graduates from high school. She is excited until Leo and Mrs. Cavendish thwart her plans and suggest she get an architectural degree completely paid by the family including food and a nice apartment. She devotes her time to proving to them she can do well and thinks she will eventually be reunited with Felix until Felix is sent away and completely forgets about Ellie. Ellie is all business and ends up engaged to her boss at a prestigious architectural firm. When her mother dies, she is reunited with the Cavendish family and the staff who all seem like family. This is a great love story, and it is fun to see Leo and Ellie’s relationship flourish. Felix is not about to give up on the millions of dollars he feels he is entitled to. Business and pleasure can mix, and Ellie learns the importance of family and forgiving herself.

The characters are quite one-dimensional and there were so many clichés in this book that I found it hard to relax into it and enjoy it. Even though you can see it coming a mile off, when it did finally happen I wasn’t convinced by the romance between Ellie and Leo.

This one caught my eye as it remind me almost of a Downtown Abby type book or would make a really great TV series.
Premise
As the daughter of a humble housekeeper, Ellie Moreland spends her formative years with a giant chip on her shoulder and a burning desire to join the Cavendish family at the top of the food chain. As she watches their lavish parties and decadent lifestyle from a distance, she puts a plan in place that will ensure she is never seen as inferior again.

She has one particular Cavendish brother in her sights and is convinced he will be her ticket to the world of her dreams, but someone is determined to thwart her plans.

Heartbroken and bitter she vows revenge, but will her burning desire for success bring her the happiness she seeks?
I loved reading about Ellie’s humble beginnings and was curious to see how things worked out for her and if she had got the Cavendish brother she so desired!

I enjoyed the story overall. The beginning annoyed me as Ellie was just so naive. She studies so hard and is obviously bright but has her goal of doing all that for a boy. Just seemed ridiculous. I let it go and the overall wad was enjoyable.

While I did enjoy the book overall, I wasn't necessarily moved by the relationship between Ellie and Leo. As a lovers-to-enemies romance, the story lacked any exposition and build-up to explain how Leo ended up falling in love with Ellie. Seeing her naked and carefree on the beach didn't quite offer sufficient explanation. Equally, there was not much justification for why Ellie went from hating Leo to absolutely adoring him. A more gradual character development would have been preferred and ultimately, more satisfying. Other events in the story also came out of left-field and in my opinion derailed the plot by not being considered enough (see the Felix and Ellie's mother storylines). I would therefore recommend the book to anyone who would like to read a cute romance book on a whim but doesn't have any high expectations about the story's execution.

Will Desires Win Through….?
Joining the Cavendish family is just a dream. Right? Years of pining for Ellie, housekeepers daughter, haven’t helped, simply putting a gigantic chip on her shoulder. Will her desires eventually win through? Nicely written romance with a colourful and credible cast and an overriding theme of avoiding obstacles in life. Enjoyable and entertaining reading.

Playing the Long Game was such an enjoyable read! I read this book in one day because I just needed to know what happened next. The ending totally caught me off guard because I was not expecting it but it really helped pack on the drama. There are a few moments in the book that feel very cliché and almost feel too perfect to suit the plot but overall I really liked this book.

This book is so good. I read this all in one day. I could not put it down. There were so many twists and turns the description does not do it justice. This book was very well written and such a good read. I love that the author allows characters to change and grow as people do. The person you are as a child or teenager is not the same person you are later in life. Sometimes stories where people meet again after time apart, they act as nothing has changed, but this isn't realistic. I would totally recommend this book if you love a feel-good romance that's going to keep you on your toes.

I really enjoyed this lovely romance from start to finish and it was one of those books I honestly couldn’t put down. Here we have a feisty and slightly snarky heroine who is walking around feeling her life is entirely unfair. As with many teens, she goes about correcting that in completely the wrong way and gets her fingers burned in the process.

I thought this was a fun romantic romp with a little bit of unexpected intrigue injected at the end, just to add interest. I particularly enjoyed the HEA ending which made me go ahh! Just my kind of thing

Ellie Moreland grows up the daughter of the housekeeper of the Ashton Estate. Growing up she and the twin sons of the chauffeur played together but never really mingled with the two Cavendish boys Leo and Felix whose parents owned the Estate. Leo, the oldest was dark-haired, serious and with a perma-frown. Felix was closer to Ellie's age, blonde-haired he was like a Greek god to her. Mr Cavendish was bad-tempered and Ellie grew up with a massive hatred of him and Leo for their supercilious behaviour. Like a typical teenager, Ellie wove fantastical dreams about marrying Felix and somehow turfing Leo and his father out of Ashton Estate to live in penury while she and Felix have a slew of golden haired babies and rear golden retrievers.

Alas, Ellie's dreams come crashing down around her head when she is eighteen and she leaves Ashton Estate, vowing never to return, until the night she gets a call to say her mother is seriously ill. Returning to Ashton Estate seven years later, Ellie realises she needs to let go of her childish anger and see things as they really are.

I found the blurb for this book to be a bit misleading, it suggests that Ellie has some kind of devious plan to bring the Cavendish family crashing to their knees rather than being a big drama queen in her own journal, which is the reality. So I was expecting a more of a dark sinister, he done her wrong plot rather than the variation on the film Sabrina which is what I got. That wouldn't have been so bad, because I was actually hoping it was a romance rather than a thriller, but unfortunately the execution felt like romance by numbers, hard to believe for a book written in the first person but it seemed like all telling and no showing. There was only one instance of Mr Cavendish being mean from which we are supposed to understand that he was a horrible individual. Honestly, the entire book felt like it was narrated by an immature teenager and I struggled to understand why people liked Ellie so much, she spent seven years away from Ashton Estate and yet all the staff and their families welcome her back with open arms, even Mrs Cavendish gushes over her.

Overall, it was a quick read but I didn't really engage with the characters, everyone except Ellie was a bit of a one-dimensional caricature and she was just immature.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.